{"id":241940,"date":"2025-09-20T17:31:24","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/241940\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T17:31:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:31:24","slug":"ted-cruz-says-fcc-chair-sounded-like-a-mafia-boss-in-threats-against-abc-over-jimmy-kimmel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/241940\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz says FCC chair sounded like a mafia boss in threats against ABC over Jimmy Kimmel"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz<\/a> says FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sounded like an organized crime boss threatening the ABC network\u2019s broadcasting licenses<\/a> over comments by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n

The Texas Republican also emphasized how much he hates what Kimmel said about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a> \u2014 and how much he likes and works closely with Carr.<\/p>\n

Having high-ranking federal officials threaten a network in such a way, however, is \u201cdangerous as hell\u201d because it presents a slippery slope that could end with conservatives facing government censorship down the road, Cruz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government gets in the business of saying, \u2018We don\u2019t like what you the media have said, we\u2019re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don\u2019t say what we like,\u2019 that will end up bad for conservatives,\u201d Cruz said on his Friday podcast.<\/p>\n

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The Federal Communications Commission did not respond to an email and voice message requesting comment on Cruz\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump also has floated the idea of revoking licenses<\/a> over what he describes as overwhelmingly negative network coverage of him, prompting criticism from Democrats.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

The FCC is the agency responsible for granting the licenses \u2014 and for revoking them \u2014 which is why Carr\u2019s comments on the topic have been closely watched.<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s criticism of Carr represents some of the most pointed pushback from a Republican, one who holds a prominent position with the power to take action. Cruz is chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation<\/a>, which is responsible for FCC oversight.<\/p>\n

ABC this week pulled Kimmel<\/a> off the air indefinitely after he talked about the man accused of assassinating Kirk<\/a>, who authorities have said held a \u201cleftist\u201d ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,\u201d Kimmel said on the show.<\/p>\n

Carr said in an interview it appeared Kimmel was playing into a narrative that Kirk\u2019s killer was a \u201cMAGA or Republican motivated person.\u201d Carr highlighted the role of the FCC in granting broadcast licenses and the obligation that comes with them to operate in the public interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way,\u201d Carr said. \u201cThese companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there\u2019s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

On his podcast, Cruz played the Carr interview and then repeated the word \u201cno\u201d five times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right out of Goodfellas,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cThat\u2019s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, \u2018Nice bar you have here. It\u2019d be a shame if something happened to it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump defended Carr as a \u201ccourageous person\u201d when asked Friday at the White House about Cruz\u2019s criticism.<\/p>\n

\u201dBrendan Carr doesn\u2019t like to see the airwaves be used illegally and incorrectly and purposely horribly,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n

He reiterated complaints about negative coverage of him on network newscasts and said the broadcasters are supposed to demonstrate honesty and integrity to have a license.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Brendan Carr is a great American patriot, so I disagree with Ted Cruz on that,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

Cruz and Kimmel have a long history of sharply criticizing one another.<\/p>\n

In 2018 they carried their political sparring onto a basketball <\/a>court for a one-on-one game that benefited charity. Cruz won the game.<\/p>\n

Cruz said Friday he\u2019s \u201cthrilled\u201d Kimmel is off the air after putting out \u201cgarbage\u201d for a long time.<\/p>\n

He said Kimmel was lying to the American people with his Kirk remarks and those lies are not in the public interest.<\/p>\n

Having the government policing speech, however, is a bad precedent that paves the way for Democrats to similarly go after conservative speech when they are once again in power, Cruz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will silence us,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cThey will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly, and that is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FCC has authority to review significant media mergers, with an eye toward preventing any anticompetitive moves. It grants licenses to local TV stations allowing them to broadcast over the public airwaves, distributing national network content such as Kimmel\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

The agency can revoke a license on the basis of a \u201cpublic interest\u201d standard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn exchange for obtaining a valuable license to operate a broadcast station using the public airwaves, each radio and television licensee is required by law to operate its station in the \u2018public interest, convenience and necessity,\u2019\u201d according to the FCC website<\/a>. \u201cGenerally, this means it must air programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community of license.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talk of the FCC revoking licenses over political content has sparked free speech concerns.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas<\/a>, has criticized the administration\u2019s response to the Kimmel comments.<\/p>\n

Crockett said in a news release she has introduced legislation to make clear the FCC can\u2019t take actions to compel companies it regulates to adopt or suppress particular political viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Crockett said her bill would prevent the FCC from leveraging its power to unlawfully censor people, which she said is a step toward authoritarianism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is critical that we add these protections so Americans can freely express their opinions\u2014without fear, without coercion, and regardless of politics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin,<\/a> is running for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talarico said Friday on CNN that Kimmel being taken off the air represents the worst kind of \u201ccancel culture\u201d in which corporate media executives sell out free speech to \u201ccurry favor with corrupt politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m against cancel culture, whether it\u2019s from the left or the right,\u201d Talarico said. <\/p>\n

Asked about Carr\u2019s comments, Cornyn downplayed free speech concerns by saying the chairman has not acted to revoke licenses.<\/p>\n

A reporter asked whether he was worried about a future Democratic administration threatening outlets over conservative speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen that happens, then I\u2019ll be happy to address it but until that time I think it\u2019s just chatter,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin,<\/a> defended Carr by disputing the suggestion the FCC chairman was threatening ABC or its parent company Disney.<\/p>\n

Roy said Carr was highlighting the fact that people could file complaints about Kimmel\u2019s comments airing on the public airwaves and federal regulators would be the ones to adjudicate those complaints.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact of the matter is, Jimmy Kimmel was crossing a line,\u201d Roy said. \u201cThe American people saw it and they didn\u2019t want to listen to it and Disney made a business decision saying they didn\u2019t want to put it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says FCC Chairman Brendan Carr sounded like an organized crime boss threatening…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":241941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[19719,327,69,50,80,4411,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-241940","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-charlie-kirk","10":"tag-congress","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-ted-cruz","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115237820003860953","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}